Perhaps you’ve noticed a few people rubbing their hands with a little extra glee as they anticipate the beginning of the baseball season.

They’re the largest fan base in America — people who root for two teams. They root for the Mets, the Phillies, the Dodgers, the Red Sox, the Cubs — you name it. They also root for whatever team happens to be playing the Yankees.

Those people think this might finally be their year. They see the Yankees limping to the starting line looking more and more like a team that’s about to fall apart at the pinstripes. A combination of age, injuries and long-term contracts have turned the Bronx Bombers into an outfit with more question marks than stars.

Did someone say stars?Second baseman Robinson Cano is a star.

Did someone say question marks?

Every position not occupied by Robinson Cano is a question mark.

The left side of the infield once belonged to third baseman Alex Rodriguez and shortstop Derek Jeter — two of the game’s all-time greats. At least that’s what they used to be. Today they’re simply aging superstars, pulling down big salaries and attempting to come back from serious injuries. No one knows for sure when either will be able to play and it is quite possible that neither will ever again be a serviceable major leaguer.

In the meantime the Yankees appear set to go with Eduardo Nunez at shortstop and Kevin Youkilis at third base.

Youkilis is a heady player but at the age of 34 is, himself, suspect. In the past two seasons he has played a total of 122 games and batted .235.

Nunez is a decent hitter but his fielding is adventurous. His career fielding percentage is .926 which is roughly one error for every 13 fielding chances.

First baseman Mark Teixeira is another declining veteran on the disabled list. The Yankees appear to be grasping at straws in an effort to find a replacement. On Tuesday they picked up Lyle Overbay, a 36-year-old Red Sox reject, and he looks like a good bet to be the opening day first sacker. The other choices would be Juan Rivera, a journeyman, or Dan Johnson, who isn’t even that. One other possibility would be to play Youkilis at first and start utility infielder Jayson Nix (a career .217 hitter) at third base.

With Curtis Granderson on the disabled list with a broken arm, the outfield will probably be Vernon Wells, Brett Gardner and Ichiro Suzuki. That’s an excellent defensive trio, but it looks iffy at the plate. Wells hasn’t been a productive offensive player in either of the past two years. Gardner, a mediocre hitter with great speed but no power, missed most of last year with an injury. Suzuki is bound for the Hall of Fame but at age 39 is certainly not the consistent threat he once was.

The Yankees have used seven catchers in spring training and only Chris Stewart could be called a major league veteran. As such he has played a total of 148 games in the big leagues and compiled a career average of .217. Chances are the number-one catcher will be Francisco Cervelli, who shows some promise but has never been an everyday player at the major league level.

Whoever catches will have to work with a veteran pitching staff. Andy Pettitte will be 41 in June and Hiroki Kuroda has already had his 38th birthday. The bullpen closer will be 43-year-old Mariano Rivera.

I think that hand rubbing is growing louder.

***Virgil Trucks, who pitched 17 years in the major leagues, died last week at the age of 95.

Trucks won 177 games in his career and was twice named to the American League All-Star team, Yet he is best remembered for his 1952 season when he finished 5-19 while pitching for a last-place Detroit team.

What made that year special?Two of those five victories were no-hitters. Trucks was one of only five pitchers to throw two no-hitters in a single season.

***A FEW SPRING TRAINING STATISTICS (Wednesday’s games not included): The Phillies’ Domonic Brown has scored 24 runs, which is five better than any other player. He has knocked in 17 runs, which trails the leader (Justin Upton of the Braves) by two...Last year’s prized rookies don’t appear to have heard about the sophomore jinx. The Angels’ Mike Trout is batting .373 and the Nationals’ Bryce Harper is batting .459...The Mariners have mashed 54 homers in 30 games. They have stolen only eight bases and have yet to execute a successful sacrifice...Somehow Braves pitchers have been called for five balks. Julio Teheran has been charged with two of them...Brandon Hicks, a Mets’ non-roster invitee, is batting only .188. However, he has the distinction of leading the Grapefruit League in walks with 18...Marlins pitchers Jacob Turner and Nathan Eovaldi have each been credited with pitching complete games.